Friday, March 27, 2015

Louisville Elite Eight Facts

Louisville defeated North Carolina State 75-65 to advance to the Elite Eight.

Louisville is in their 14th Elite Eight and their 3rd in 4 years.

Louisville is 10-3 in their 13 previous appearances. It is the 3rd best winning percentages for teams that have been to at least 10 Elite Eights. Only UCLA (18-4) and Duke (15-4) have are better.

Defeated Michigan State 88-81 in 1959

Defeated Kansas State 72-65 in 1972

Defeated Maryland 96-82 in 1975

Defeated Louisiana State 86-66 in 1980

Defeated UAB 75-68 in 1982

Defeated Kentucky 80-68 in 1983

Defeated Auburn 84-76 in 1986

Lost to North Carolina 97-74 in 1997

Defeated West Virginia 93-85 in 2005

Lost to North Carolina 83-73 in 2008

Lost to Michigan State 64-52 in 2009

Defeated Florida 72-68 in 2012

Defeated Duke 85-63 in 2013

Louisville's Elite Eight is Rick Pitino's 12th appearance. He is 5th all-time and 2nd among active coaches. It is his 6th Elite Eight with Louisville which is second behind Denny Crum who had 7.

Louisville along with Notre Dame in the Elite Eight marks the first time since 2004 that the ACC has multiple teams in the Elite Eight. It is the longest drought without multiple teams in the Elite Eight for the ACC since the tournament started allowing more than 1 team per conference in 1976.

It is the 5th consecutive year that a #4 seed has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. It ties the longest such streak set from 1988 to 1992.